Zuma to attend funeral of Anton Xaba

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma will attend the funeral of struggle veteran and fellow Robben Islander Anton “Mfenendala” Xaba at the Sobantu Sports Ground on Saturday. Xaba, who died in hospital last week after a long illness, is being given a state funeral by the KZN provincial government.

Zuma has also authorised that the national flag be flown at half mast at all all government buildings on Saturday.

KZN Premier Zweli Mkhize said the gesture was in honour of Xaba’s selfless contribution to the struggle for freedom.

Xaba was among the first recruits of Umkhonto we Sizwe sent out of the country for military training.

In a tribute to its stalwart, the KZN branch of the ANC described Xaba as one of its most dedicated and selfless freedom fighters.

He joined the ANC in 1953 at Emsizini in Durban at a meeting that was addressed by Chief Albert Luthuli.

The party’s provincial secretary, Sihle Zikalala, said that former President Nelson Mandela would fondly refer to Xaba as his “crazy comrade” whenever the two reminisced about Xaba’s uncompromising militant stance and running battles with the prison authorities on Robben Island.

Xaba is survived by his wife, sisters and grandchildren.

Join the conversation!

24.com encourages commentary submitted via MyNews24. Contributions of 200 words or more will be considered for publication.

We reserve editorial discretion to decide what will be published. Read our comments policy for guidelines on contributions.

24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Saving your profile

Settings

News24 allows you to edit the display of certain components based on a location.
If you wish to personalise the page based on your preferences, please select a
location for each component and click "Submit" in order for the changes to
take affect.

Your Location*

Weather*

Always remember my setting

Saving your settings

Facebook Sign-In

Hi News addict,

Join the News24 Community to be involved in breaking the news.

Log in with Facebook to comment and personalise news, weather and listings.